Comments on Bearded Brewing Blog: Mayabock and other random thoughts

Again, that's an aspect of interpretation. There ...

2008-02-28T09:55:00.000-06:00

Again, that's an aspect of interpretation. There was a time when it was a pretty normal way to brew. However, the only other style that comes to mind besides the bock is a marzen or oktoberfest. Like I said, to me, there are some benefits to the extra step that come out in the malt flavors. I am sure there are plenty that disagree but I noticed a significantly greater about of malt flavor.

Thanks Travis. I might have to try that. I'll chec...

2008-02-27T21:38:00.000-06:00

Thanks Travis. I might have to try that. I'll check out your post on it. It sounds easy enough. What styles do you do it for other than bocks?

well it can be as easy or as hard as you want it t...

2008-02-27T20:40:00.000-06:00

well it can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. For me, I do a protein rest at about 120ish for 1/2 hour and then use a plastic pitcher to draw off about 1/3 of the mash, gains and all, into a brew pot. You want the consistency to be like oatmeal so it's got to be wet, but not soup.

You bring that up to a boil for 10 to 20 min stirring constantly to avoid scorching and then dump the decocted grains back into the mash. At this point you should be at around 150ish and you do your alpha/beta rest and your done.

There are more technical ways to do it, but that works for me and doesn't add a ton of time, I am basically just using the decoct as a second temp infusion. I will actually draw some off sometimes if I have a really full mashtun to get up to mashout temp.

Here is a post I did on some of my decocts with pics:

http://www.cnybrew.com/2007/06/today-was-my-brew-day-for-doppelbock.html

Cheers!

No, I didn't. I do a single infusion mash, I've ne...

2008-02-26T23:26:00.000-06:00

No, I didn't. I do a single infusion mash, I've never done a decoction mash. Is it difficult? How exactly do you do it? I've read a little about it before.
Thanks.

Are you doing a decoct on your Maibock? I did a d...

2008-02-26T11:40:00.000-06:00

Are you doing a decoct on your Maibock? I did a doppelbock last year and I have to say it was by far one of the best brews I made to date. I did a double decoct and used the decocts as my temp infusions. Now most people will tell you that with today's highly modified base malts protein rests and decocts are not needed, but I think that there is a flavor that the decoct imparts into the brew.

I noticed a significant color change in the mash and considering the grain bill, it was a lot maltier that I would have ever anticipated. Plus decocts are not that bad in practice. A single decoct will add about 1/2 hour to your brew day.

Well worth the effort if you ask me.

Cheers!